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Curried Barley & Pumpkin

When starting this blog, I hadn’t really experimented much in the way of using recipes. I would only look through cook books, take ideas and make up my own dishes, but always forgetting what I used exactly in the way of quantities or method of cooking. This would make the same dish taste different every time. Not such a bad thing, but it can become a pain when you want to cook something quickly, something that you know is good for friends visiting.

From posting my fave dishes here, forces me to note down what I did, therefore opening up a new world of cooking.

I’m also always open to new ideas, especially ones which are easy to make, take little time, taste outstanding and of course are healthy.

I love it when friends are also interested in cooking, as this opens up new tasty doors. Jules, a friend of mine from New Zealand is a keen cook and always has great ideas in the kitchen. Being a yoga fanatic vegetarian and interested in healthful ingredients has possibly made her more experimental. I turned to her first because one of the first dishes of hers I tasted was right up my street. Curried barley and pumpkin. A really delicious side dish so full of flavour and very aromatic.

Sadly Jules had to leave Japan to return to New Zealand so no more sampling of new dishes that I can steal and no more yoga afternoons 😦 . Thankfully the power of the internet helps keep things close, so I asked her to send me some of her favourite meals, the ones she turns to most often. Luckily she sent me the Curried barley and pumpkin recipe I have been trying to copy for the past 6 months.

Tonight I followed the recipe for the first time and tried my best not to ruin it by adding extras before I’d even sampled the original recipe. The results, were just as I thought, super delicious. I served it with a tofu and edamame mixed salad and pickled cucumbers on the side (a new favourite of mine. Thank you Chisako for introducing them to me). I have sooo many left overs too. I doubled the batch as Andy is a huge eater and always worrying if he eats enough. He said he’d eat it again, however the only suggestion he made was to serve it with a saucy dish as it wouldn’t work as a meal by itself. I feel that this dish as a meal by itself, wasn’t the intention and works amazing with a crunchy salad and tofu. The quantities of spices were spot on and the sweetness of the pumpkin and the mirin pull out the spicy flavours. I loved how making this dish filled my apartment with mouth watering aromas.

I have no need to change anything, but I’m happy to hear what your opinions are.

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It’s Cooking Time!

Here I am.

How would you describe your eating habbits? Do you live to eat or eat to live? I think from this blog of mine you can more or less guess which I'd use to describe my eating habits.
I love to indulge, but I also love to stay healthy. This is where this blog begins. I want to have a good reason to why I cook something, and enjoy experimenting with ways I can make what I eat healthier and more convenient (you'll find a lot of my recipes are made in the rice cooker)
From cakes to salads, I want a reason to justify why I make or eat them. I will also never compromise on flavour, which is why I try to use only the freshest of locally grown ingredients. Even now that I am a poor student I will never give in to value pack offers from huge supermarket chains! If I can't eat a lot, at least I know I consume what I need to stay healthy.
I hope you like my blog. I'm still learning and experimenting, with both cooking and photography, so if you happen to stop by or pop back to take a look from time to time, please feel free to make suggestion, leave a simple comment or to simply rant.
I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.